The present invention relates to an organic porous material used for, for example, thermal insulators, and a method of manufacturing the same.
Foamed materials of organic polymers, such as polyurethane, have conventionally been used as porous materials for thermal insulators of, for example, refrigerators. The organic polymers have excellent flexibility but insufficient thermal insulating properties. Inorganic porous materials, especially those of silica material having excellent thermal insulating properties, have thus been produced and used for the thermal insulators.
The porous material of the silica material is obtained by drying a wet gel under supercritical condition and has pores of approximately 50 nm in diameter. The shorter void distance defined by the pores than a mean free path of oxygen and nitrogen depresses heat conduction of the gas and accordingly ensures the better thermal insulating properties than urethane foam even at atmospheric pressure.
The silica, which constitutes the aerogel, however, has disadvantages such as brittleness, difficulty in handling and the like.
Then, the object of the present invention is thus to provide an organic porous material having equivalent thermal insulating properties to those of a porous material of silica material and improved brittleness.